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Nuisance Abatement

Miami-Dade County enacted the Nuisance Abatement Ordinance (NAO), No. 92-42, requiring property and business owners to eliminate public nuisances. The NAO provides the community a tool to encourage owners to take responsibility for preventing recurring nuisance activities on their property in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.

The NAO addresses recurring criminal/nuisance activity involving:

The unlawful sale, delivery, or possession of controlled substances/narcotics

Youth and street gang criminal activity

Prostitution or solicitation of prostitution

Lewd and lascivious activity

Illegal gambling

The illegal sale, possession, or consumption of alcoholic beverages

Other criminal activities that are a danger to the public health, safety, and welfare

What type of nuisance activities are NOT addressed by the NAO?

Private nuisances that may involve neighbor disputes including: noise, barking dogs, loud music, code enforcement, and other non-criminal activity. While these and other activities may be a community problem, they are not addressed by the NAO, but may be addressed through other Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) or Miami-Dade County entities, including Regulatory & Environmental Resources (RER - Building & Neighborhood Compliance, Zoning), and others that may be determined through calling 311.

How can a complaint be made?

The NAO allows anyone to file a police report/complaint with MDPD at 4-POLICE (305-476-5423). Although complaints may be made anonymously, to make a formal complaint, the Citizen's Complaint Affidavit may be completed and forwarded to the below address. All complaints must include the exact address of the alleged nuisance property and details about the activity and may be mailed to:

How are the complaints handled?

MDPD officers investigate the complaints and criminal activity and provide reports to the Nuisance Abatement Unit (NAU). If there are three or more substantiated and documented complaints within a twelve-month period, and a pattern of recurring activity, the NAU will send official notification to the property owner requiring the owner to respond in writing with a plan of action within 14 days and to take immediate action to eliminate the nuisance activity.

Nuisance Abatement Board (NAB)

If the owner fails to respond and take sufficient steps to abate the nuisance, and/or there are additional incidents, the case will be presented to the Miami-Dade County NAB that is appointed by the County Commissioners. The NAB will review the evidence and hear testimony from police officers, citizens, and the owners to determine if there is evidence to declare the premises a public nuisance and/or if the owners have taken sufficient steps to abate the nuisance.

Nuisance Abatement Board Orders

If the Board finds the premises to be a Public Nuisance, the NAB may order immediate actions to be taken by the owners to abate the nuisance. Orders to owners may include:

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